A Christian Women's Conference ad that is a bit - different

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Permalink Reply by Nathanael Lewis on October 18, 2010 at 9:39pm

I got this rather provocative ad via a friend on Facebook who is one of the actors (I think he must be the guy in the balaclava with the gun). Bet you aint never seen an ad for a Christian Women's Conference quite like this.....

Permalink Reply by Dorothy Murphy on October 19, 2010 at 5:16am

What the heck?
I laughed all the way through that. Provocative? Ludicrous.
Now I suppose I should find out what on earth it was promoting. Motorbikes? Clothing? Weapons? Litter removal services? Hoodies?

Permalink Reply by Wulf Forrester-Barker on October 19, 2010 at 9:43am

I can't say that it made me think of a Christian conference. I can guess where they might be going (being prepared in God's Word and with his Spirit to face a dangerous world) but I think they might have slipped into a different matrix of cinematography!

Wulf

Permalink Reply by Toni on October 19, 2010 at 7:11pm

The word unfortunate springs to mind.

Initially clever photography let down by home movie-style fight scenes creates an anticlimax. And worse than her keys, she forgot her helmet (I'd take her much more seriously with one - she's not Trinity).

It was probably fun to shoot, but I wish the church wouldn't try to imitate the world's style and do it badly. I guess it's supposed to be be humorous, and it IS kind of funny but doesn't ham it up enough. My wife asked if I had any more idea what it was about than she did.

The girl (woman?) looks nice, and has a great back, but I'm probably not supposed to notice that. ;-)

Permalink Reply by Toni on October 20, 2010 at 7:34am

I wondered (after thinking about this overnight) that I've been a little harsh, and how I might be constructive.

No idea whether this is the 'final cut' but basically it's about twice as long as it should be. The shots where the scene keeps returning from a different angle go on too long (max 3 returns - it becomes annoying) & loses impact. In particular, the fight scene needs trimming: she needs to hit the guy that caresses her cheek, acquire the nunchucks, do her routine twirling, knock all the guys down once and walk away while the boyfriend looks on. The bad fighting detracts from the 'joke' (you forgot your keys) and stretches it to the point where it confuses the audience and spoils the whole ad. She also really does need that helmet if this is a UK ad, and if they *could* re-shoot the bike bit, then she needs a bike that looks & sounds like it means business instead of that ZX6R (it shouts 'girlie bike'). Carrie Ann rode a bright red Ducati, rather than a high-speed sewing machine.

But what do I know?

The theology is 'interesting' but no-one seems interested in getting that side of things right these days anyway, when it comes to media.

Permalink Reply by Toni on October 20, 2010 at 10:30pm

Possibly foolishly I followed the link back to youtube, then the actors. I do hope this wasn't a 'labour of love' for Ms. de Souza.

I've sent the link to a good friend who knows a bit more about cinematography than me for critique. I'll be interested to see what he comes up with.

Permalink Reply by Toni on November 2, 2010 at 9:58pm

My friend finally came back to me about this. He's quite serious about film, and understands from a technical POV as well as aesthetic:

Interesting clip. Got me in, though I have to admit that was partly because the young lady looked remarkably similar to someone I once knew. I hope it's for a martial arts school, but I'm inclined to wonder if it for some sort of ministry related thing. If it's the later then I hope they have some different promos as well.

I would get rid of the starburst filters for one and mix the music and sound differently. It needs more foley, especially kick and gravel sounds. Also, the music get monotonous. The visual effects are cool, but there are too many of them. The tilt shift thing is edgy, but clashes with the starburst, which really should never be used again.


I don't understand why this isn't so much better - I looked up Jodi de Souza, and she seems to have won a lot of critical acclaim. It's not really a professional, finished product.

Permalink Reply by Toni on November 4, 2010 at 11:28am

Nathanael - you've posted this up, we've commented. How about some feedback from you on what's been said?